Some notes about browsers.
I have tried to be sure everything works in all browsers. There is one thing I can't seem to get them to agree on, the color of a photo. Windows IE over-saturates the photos as does Google Chrome. Apple Safari is very close but just a hair desaturated. Firefox is the only one that matches the original file stored on my computer. Frustrating!
Wildlife and Photographers
I have been musing on the situation that has developed, and still is developing, regarding the interaction of wildlife and photographers. In the ten years since I began actively photographing wildlife, mostly birds, the situation has gone from a small, seldom observed, problem to one of ever increasing proportion. Presently, in the area where I live, it is being noticed in connection with this winters Snowy Owl irruption. Soon the shorebirds will be the focus of attention as they have been the last couple of years. In other areas, from the arctic to the tropics, the ratio of photographers, some ill-mannered, some not, to wildlife is growing.
There are several reasons why this is happening, some obvious, some not so much so. One obvious reason is the increase in human population. As is always the case, when one species grows more numerous in an area, another has to 'give ground'. In this situation the area is the earth and we humans are the dominant predatory species, even when we mean to do no harm.
Another reason for the increase in photographers is the advent of digital photography. In the days when film was the means of recording images, more money, time, and knowledge was required to be a photographer, even a poor one. Now almost everyone has some type of camera and computer and with very little effort can take relatively good photos with no further expense. For those that do have the means to afford the more expensive gear, there is still little knowledge or effort needed to obtain photos that in times past would have been professional quality. Consequently, we see an ever growing number of people engaging in wildlife photography in habitat that is, if anything, shrinking.
When I started photographing wildlife ten years ago, I spent many hours alone in most of the popular wildlife areas in Washington. In December of 2005, during the Snowy Owl irruption then, I was at Damon Point two separate times and never saw more than a couple other photographers and I was the only one with a large lens. I never spooked an owl. During those early years I was often alone on the beach and almost always had the only large lens in sight. I didn't spook many birds but when I did it was almost like a stray dog going by, nothing to worry about. Now the analogy would be more liken to a pack of coyotes, much more worrysome.
By 2008 the situation had started to change, and noticably so. During the Red-necked Phalarope irruption that spring, long-lensed photographers started showing up in numbers and their conduct was not at all what we were used to seeing. In 2009 I started avoiding the popular spots and spending time in some out of the way places. That allowed me to be alone but I didn't photograph many birds. After revisiting the beaches in 2010 I started thinking long and hard about the direction things were going and by fall had decided I no longer wanted to be identified with the big-lens crowd and sold mine. At this time, a year and a half later, I am pretty much just staying home and taking pictures in the wildlife habitat I created in the yard. That doesn't conclude my history, just brings it up to date.
The history of the photographer/wildlife situation is likewise still being written. I don't have any idea where it will go next but from every indication it will not return to what once was. If one doesn't like what has happened, they probably will care less for what lies ahead. One thing is for sure, flaming someone or group of someones online won't help. Other than that I don't know. It doesn't seem to do any good to point out any behavior as wrong because, no matter how sure we are that we are right, some people do not agree. And, under the rules most of us claim to live by, unless it can be proved that their actions are causing real, as opposed to presumed, harm, they have that right. Unfortunately, it takes time for such proof to become apparent.
Almost Spring
I have been suffering from the usual winter doldrums for a while now which can be evidenced by the time since I have last posted anything here. I have taken few photos this last month and the only musing I have done has been related to how I might relocate to someplace other than western Washington. But yesterday a small ray of hope of brighter thoughts came over me with the early arrival of this harbinger of spring.
Usually by late March the Purple Finches fill the air with their song, breaking the long winter where one has to listen carefully to even hear the small sounds of the wintering birds calling back and forth. So the sight of this one reminds me that winter is a season that ends with the advent of spring, a season of beautiful sights and sounds, and it is almost here.
I must never forget, however, to mention with gratitude the many moments of satisfaction watching the wintering birds in my yard. Five kinds of woodpeckers, four of them quite regular, the fun to watch quail, the multitude of juncos, the three kinds of sparrows, the squeaky toys
(towhees), the chickadees and at least that many more kinds of visitors each day, sometimes as many as fifty here at a time. But soon there will be a 'changing of the guard' when some will leave and new ones will arrive and spring will once more be here.
Taking What You Can Get
After going to Ocean Shores and photographing the Snowy Owls, I decided to 'pace' myself. I don't want to make unnecessary or unproductive trips or even try for too many and become overly tired. My decision was to wait for the right conditions and make a trip to the Palouse for a wintry December scene. Ideally, it would be patches of snow mixed with patches of bare ground, a scene I understand to be common there this time of year. So far it hasn't happened, at least not in a way that it would be possible for me to make the trip and photograph it. Nor does it appear it will, the weather forecast being for predominant rain and above freezing temperatures. I have been trying for five years to assemble a series of monthly photos for that area and it looks like it will be at least one more year before I can accomplish it.
On the positive side; the weather has been unusually dry with many more sunbreaks than most Decembers where I live. This has allowed me to enjoy the abundance of birds in my backyard wildlife habitat more than usual. I haven't had any unusual species this month but there has been a larger than usual number of the regulars. Never being bothered much by unwanted visitors, even the 'possums are welcome, I do put out various kinds of feed. I keep only one seed feeder, filled with sunflower seed, and two feeders for my home cooked suet mix, as well as two heated hummingbird feeders for the resident Anna's. I spread cracked corn throughout the area and wait until almost every kernal is gone before I replenish. The result of this is that I have from ten to fifty birds from about twenty different species in view at any given time of day. When those sunbreaks happen, such as the one in the photo, I can practice my photography techniques if I desire.
It isn't the same as going to a nice area and seeing more unusual, and perhaps more beautiful, scenery but it is less tiring and I never miss.
And Still Another Nice Day
I just returned from Ocean Shores and have quickly processed the photo that defines the day. Snowy Owls in all directions. Not quite enough for each photographer to have his own but with a little sharing there were plenty for everyone to get some photos. And the WEATHER was perfect.
I spent over an hour working in on this closest one of the two shown here. In the beginning there was another owl about 6 feet to the left of it but it moved before I was this close. Not really seeming disturbed but not as comfortable with me as this one. After reaching this point and taking a number of shots with all the glass I could muster, I removed one extender and backed the telephoto off for this habitat view. I didn't even notice the furthest owl until I had the photo on the computer.
During the three hours I was out, I was able to photograph several different birds. One bird had two photographers working him so I was careful getting a few shots and moving away rather than closing in. Some other photographers returned that favor to me when I was working this bird. Everyone seemed very courteous to each other as well as considerate of the birds. The birds that occasionally flew never seemed overly nervous and never went far. Except, perhaps, the last bird I saw on the way back to the car. It was alone and never took his eyes from me and flew well before I was at the closest point of passing. So caution is certainly still the 'order of the day'.
For those that are thinking, "I bet he wishes he still had the 500 mm lens", I don't! I doubt that I could have carried it out there today after being down most of November with a bad cold. And even normally, it was just too heavy for me anymore. The smaller lens and lighter tripod with my extenders did pretty good and left me healthy enough to write this when I returned home.
